The 15-year-old Wisconsin school shooter who killed two people and wounded six had attended the Christian academy for less than four months before unleashing an attack that lasted just eight minutes, according to school officials.
Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow — who gunned down student Rubi Patricia Vergara, 14, and teacher Erin West, 42, at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison Monday — was in her first semester and seemed to be settling in, though she struggled with attendance, educators said.
Rupnow’s rampage lasted just eight minutes — shorter than students’ regular snack break, said Barbara Wiers, the school’s director for elementary and communications.
Madison city officials have said a second-grade teacher called 911 to report the the mass shooting at 10:57 a.m. — and that the first police officer arrived at the school four minutes later.
“Are we broken right now? Yes. Are we bruised and battered? Yes,” Wiers said. “But we will laugh again, and He will turn our mourning into joy again. And we will go on.”
“I pray for [her] family because right now they’ve lost a daughter and they are wounded,” Wiers added. “And they’re dealing with the fact that their daughter did this terrible thing and hurt these other people. It has to be one of the loneliest, bitterest places to be.”
Rupnow had two handguns when she opened fire at the K-12 school then turned the gun on herself, police said. She died at a nearby hospital.
Her motivation for the shooting remains unclear, according to police.
Rupnow, who reportedly became fixated on Columbine killer Eric Harris, was in therapy over her turbulent home life with her parents, who had repeatedly divorced and remarried, according to court documents.
Two of the six victims who were injured remained hospitalized in critical condition Thursday.
West had worked at the school as a substitute teacher for three years before accepting a staff position as the sub coordinator and in-building substitute teacher. “ALCS is a better school for the work of Erin West,” the school said in a statement.
She was also a mother of three who loved camping with her family, according to her obituary.
“She served our teachers and students with grace, humor, wisdom, and — most importantly — with the love of Jesus,” the school said. “Her loss is a painful and deep one and she will be greatly missed not just among our staff, but our entire ALCS family.”
Vergara was a freshman at the school and “an avid reader, loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band,” according to her obituary.
“Rubi was a blessing to her class and our school,” the school said in a statement. “She was not only a good friend, but a great big sister.”
– With Post wires
